A meandering path
by Shadow66
Summary: Lani heads out to collect a bounty and find herself. L/R
1. Chapter 1

**A meandering path**

A Final Fantasy IX fanfiction in progress, by Shadow66**  
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With thanks to Squaresoft, Lefox and ... you!

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><p>The<em> Lindblum Traveler's Companion<em> was a well-known book on the Mist continent. The wisdom and travel advice contained within it was reputed to have saved many an amateur from an untimely fate over the years. Many merchants and adventurers regarded it as an almost essential item for the serious traveler.

Within it there was a chapter and two maps devoted to crossing the Lindblum Plains in summer. According to the guide the best time to leave Lindblum in summer was early in the morning. That way by the time the sun was high in the sky and the land shimmering with heat, a forward thinking traveler would be across the plains and avoid the full brunt of the Lindblum plateau's infamously strong summer heat.

On reflection, Lani considered while wiping another wave of sweat off her face, that was sound advice. Another good idea would have been to not feed her day-hire Chocobo a dead pepper. Or to not blindly storm out-of-town on a mission to collect the largest bounty on the jobs board without bothering to check why it had gone unclaimed for five years. There was more than likely a chapter about this kind of thing.

Not that she'd ever been big on following advice or rules, even from that book which she grudgingly carried around with her. It wasn't that she hated the laws, just how often they got in her way. The one exception however was, learning them so that she knew what rules she was breaking. Ruby had drummed that one into her and while she hated to admit it, it made a lot of sense.

About sixty percent of the time, bending the rules worked every time. For the other forty percent she'd have to spend an hour hiding in a bin until the guards went away or a panic filled ten minutes clutching the top of an airship because she'd messed up a jump. She spat sharply to the side at the memory feeling herself tense up. Not only had she fucked the job up but ruby had torn into her in the stunningly accurate and guilt inducing way only she could manage and she'd spent a week sleeping on someone else's lounge before she was forgiven.

If Ruby was alongside her she would have that eye rolling exasperated look she always did when she felt important advice was being woefully unappreciated. Lani winced remembering her lecture earlier that morning in the lounge, with Ruby smoking in a slightly tense mood. "Plannin' an' preparation will get you a lot further than playing things by ear" she'd drawled. Then a quick inhale and then a ring of smoke to the high rafters of the room, "You have potential darlin' - don't trip over your own feet to beat everyone okay?" Ruby's parting remark seemed almost prophetic as it echoed through her head while she trudged across the plains.

Perhaps, she mused. Collecting small bounties on petty thieves, minor espionage, smugglers and the like wasn't such a bad thing. Sure it wasn't the fastest way to fame and fortune – (even if that was even what she wanted) but it was steady enough work and generally not too many people seemed to want her dead. Which was never a given as a bounty hunter.

A rustling noise in the scrub ahead broke her thoughtful mood and she instinctively halted mid step eyeing off the bush. This kind of humid heat was usually too hot for most monsters to bother with anything past sleeping. Plain monsters however, were well-known for being unpredictable. In the next moment a monster burst out of the bush and hurled itself at her, a furious ball of teeth, and claws.

The bounty hunter leapt backwards in a well-practiced move getting her crossbow off her back and in her hands by the time she landed. "It's too hot for this" she muttered sighting down the crossbow at the slavering monster, her fingers traced out a rune in midair leaving a glowing trail for a moment. "What's this, a level ten?" she grunted in disappointment "That's not even worth my time, I could take you out in a barfigh-" the crossbow bucked slightly against her shoulder as the arrow thudded into the beast mid leap, flinging it back and into the bushes. There was a tense pause for a moment as she reloaded while intently watching the leaves for movement. When there was nothing after a few long seconds she lowered the crossbow and wiped her face again with a grimace. "It's way too hot for this shit".

Everything today was all Ruby's fault really. About six hours ago Lani had no real plans to work, exert herself in the summer heat or even go outside the city walls at all. She'd been lazing around on the lounge reading one of Ruby's many entertainment news magazines when Ruby herself hustled into the room and promptly sat down on her. "What the shit Ruby? Get off me" Lani grunted trying to pull herself out from under her. "Darlin' we need to talk about some things" Ruby said playing with a cigarette. "Can we talk about this face to face instead of ass to back?" Lani wheezed exageratedly clawing at the lounge "Well don't I just wish we could – but you're getting more slippery than an eel lately," Ruby said with a reproachful tone "The matters that we need to discuss are about your work an' where you're goin'." Ah, that subject - the silence stretched on for an awkward moment.

"You want me to stay on small time jobs or to do something less dangerous right? You've seen it all and you know what's best for me right?" she could hear how childish she sounded which annoyed her even as she spat the words out. Ruby leaned over to coolly stare at her for a few seconds more than was comfortable. "Darlin', please stay calm" Ruby said carefully, a tinge of irritation creeping into her voice.

She sighed heavily weighing up her words for a moment as Lani burned with a swirl of emotions "I want you, to take things slower, so you don't wind up in as a footnote in Sybel's news column. And to use a weapon, that doesn't leave you defenseless if you miss your first shot, okay?" "You're cramping my style Ruby" Lani spoke into the armrest "I'll work with what I'm comfortable with and where I'm going at my pace - is that okay with you?" she said her sarcastic tone irritating Ruby straight away. "No it darn well isn't you stubborn mule" she snatched the magazine up and hit her across the back of the head in one smooth movement "You know I'm givin' you advice because I care about you and how you do - don't act like a dang schoolgirl who needs her hand held and I won't lecture you like one."

The silence stretched out between them again. "Yeah okay" Lani mumbled eventually "I'm... yeah, I'm kind of sorry. I was actually just about to head out for a job but, you know you're sitting on me" Ruby patted Lani on the head "Good gal" she said as if to a Chocobo. She stretched lazily before getting to her feet again "I'll do whatever I have to do to get you to listen – hey" she paused hands on hips "Take it easy out there, I want you back alive." Lani rolled her eyes slightly "C'mon Rubes, I've been doing this for a while, I'll be fine" she retorted, grabbing her pack and hotfooting it out the door just in time to avoid the Lindblum weekly which sailed out into the street after her "I told ya! Don't call me that!" Ruby yelled, but Lani was already half way down the street.

The door swung closed again and Ruby watched her jog down the main street from the window with a sigh."I love ya to bits darlin' but by the seven sons of hell you piss me right off sometimes" her last thought lingered unsaid; 'please come back to me alive.'

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><p>So after an eight year break, a chapter happens. Then more than a year later it's gutted and re-written. Surely this means it took an eighth of the time?<p>

If you took the time to read this, thank you! Please tell me what you thought!

Also, sorry about the formatting - isn't as easy as I remember it being.

Shadow66


	2. Chapter 2

**A meandering path**

Chapter two.

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><p>The midday sun cast a sweltering glare across Lindblum plateau, deserted of all but the most foolhardy of creatures. Lani's hike across the tabletop plains just outside Lindblum had been mostly uneventful if uncomfortably hot so far. However, the heavily forested set of hills, known as T<em>he Spine<em> to Lindblum residents and _The Devils Back_ to anyone unlucky enough to need to cross them. Were trying their hardest to be much more of a task.

"Fuck" she exhaled in a long breath, as she leant against a tree for a brief rest. The heat seemed to have gone from dry to incredibly humid as soon as she had started following the tracks uphill through the trees. "So much for easy money" she quipped instantly missing having Ruby around to give her a vaguely annoyed look at her intentionally bad joke. After wiping the sweat off her brow again she searched her side bag for the worn notice torn from the message board in the bounty hunters' bar.

The poster was slightly worse for wear thanks to being unceremoniously stuffed in Lani's bag, but it was still readable enough. 'A 70,000 Gil reward is offered for the permanent removal of H. D. Samuel and retrieval of weapons with official seals of Lindblum, Alexandria and Burmecia.' Here there was some sort of half arsed stamp that looked vaguely like the royal crests of the cities, she picked at it absent-mindedly. It looked like it'd been done by some gormless clerk on a quota based wage, tacky.

Then there was some smaller writing 'This is a tier ten job and high caution is advised - the reward is only payable on full completion of the described requirements. IMPORTANT: Under no circumstances are any other valuables to be removed from the Location' and then some pain in the ass tiny legal wording about the legal nature of accepting a bounty and how all legal responsibility for injuries/death was waived. She screwed up her face at the legal wording - more rules to be learned and then bent.

In a more thoughtful mood for a moment Lani pondered the last line, it actually sounded a bit odd. If a contract was important enough for all the big three to have their names on it how difficult could it possibly be? If it was that high-ranking surely the military could handle it, or even one of their regular contractors. And who in their right mind would specifically tell bounty hunters not to loot? That didn't even work - everyone knew one of the few perks of being a bounty hunter was looting people who deserved it before turning them in. That and getting a mix of fear and awe from the public, not that Ruby gave her any fear or awe though.

Lani gazed into the distance at the plains idly twisting around one of her bag's key chains as the iceberg of Ruby surfaced in her mind for the second time today. There was a real connection between them, that much was sure – Ruby was in no way shy about making her feeling known to her or the rest of the world. But she couldn't express what she felt half of the time and the other half was jerky sentences. The constant feeling of not being good enough and somehow repaying her made her uneasy despite Ruby's constant admonishing of her blurtings of guilt. Lani winced at the thought of how awkward she probably looked with her to everyone half of the time. Not that anyone else mattered – so why did she waste time on thinking like that?

Another long sigh, this was no time for this kind of deep thinking. That said, when was the time? When she got back she'd get definitely get some thinking done and sort things out between them. For now though why in the name of all that fit in a small bag and was easily to re-sell hadn't the contract been completed in five years? That alone has rung uneasy alarm bells with her since she set out. The trip to the job site wasn't easy but for 70,000 Gil even if there was a possessed bog of quicksand and a small army at the top of the hill it should have been done by now. With an uneasy noise she stuffed the notice back into her side bag and with a sigh resumed the ever steeper trudge up the hill, perhaps it wasn't the wisest decision not to check around town before she left. Her mind wandered as she resigned herself to an uphill slog.

Earlier that morning as she'd jogged down the street the small burst of mild glee she'd gotten from being a smartass to Ruby began to wear off. That wasn't at all how she had actually wanted to leave - preferably it would have been a more personal moment, but she could never resist a punch line or quip when the opportunity came her way. "Damnit" she muttered slowing her pace as she turned the corner to the street where the Air Cab was as the buzz of regret set in. Ruby was right about one thing - she didn't tend to plan too far ahead. Was there even any bounties going? It was going to be pretty awkward if she had to slink back inside after that exit. The queue for the Air Cab was long, as usual. She sidled into the line behind a lady that smelled heavily of garlic - just her luck.

She looked around her at the city, it was amazing. It seemed after a while it was like the crowd and traffic didn't even register anymore. When she had first come here with Ruby it was a complete shock to her just how busy and loud it was. She wasn't a huge fan of the slow kind of country town feel Ruby seemed to delight in even though she had come from a smaller village herself, but the sheer size of Lindblum not to mention the non-stop noise has taken a few weeks to become accustomed to. She shuffled forwards a little as another air cab loaded up. It was definitely a nice place though, the regent -though rumored to be a bit scatterbrained - put enough money and attention into the basics of the city to keep it running smoothly and there was even a theater district much to Ruby's delight. Theater wasn't her idea of a good time but the district was an unspoken holding area for pretentious artsy types - which she reasoned, was actually a pretty good idea.

Suddenly a space opened up and she wandered onto a half empty air cab. At this hour nobody was going to the Industrial District. The workers were already there including the usual half an hour later rush of the ones who'd overslept. Also, the industrial district wasn't exactly known as a thriving hub of social activity. After a moment the engine on the roof kicked in with a low whir and the air cab began its path along the steel tracks which wound through the city.

Lindblum was a fortunate city, she could tell that by just looking around. The trade routes had made many suppliers rich and pushed entire neighborhoods into prosperity. Of course the downside of prosperity was that the gap between rich and poor had yawned far wider than any official was comfortable to admit. That irked her morally but it also in turn spurned the bounty hunting trade as the criminal class constantly canibalised itself like something out of mythology.

After another five minutes or so of riveting travel the Air Cab jolted to a stop in the Industrial District and Lani stepped out into the weirdly clean main street. Apparently the regent had specifically asked for the area visible from the Air Cab to be cleaned but made no such demands for the rest of the district, another canny trick on his behalf. It was strange, she mused making her way down the stairs of a tight side alley. The streets of the business district were too full and busy for her liking but the maze of tiny alleys and workshops that were the Industrial district were comforting for her. Like a game where she could hide in tiny alleys and be safe from everyone. She kicked a cardboard box out of the way, starting an avalanche of cardboard down the alley.

It wasn't like her at all to be distracted during her travel but sometimes she felt as if her head was filled with a fog which kept her looping on thoughts of Ruby and things that she could have done better ten, fifteen, twenty minutes or three days ago. She wandered in through a plate welding workshop weaving around workers and the streams of sparks from their craft - the indifference people in the Industrial district had to each other was almost comforting in a weird kind of way, it also made for some great shortcuts. She could have sworn she walked through someone's kitchen in the middle of dinner after a wrong turn one day and nobody had batted an eyelid.

"Mornin'" one of the workers grunted as he passed her with a nod. This shortcut was definitely her best yet - or it would be until they caught on that she'd been taking the cheese sandwiches from the fridge near the exit. She eased the fridge door open casually as she sidled past to check today's lunch. Dead Peppers, the one thing she couldn't stand – she took a few just in case. The back door swung open after she carefully clicked the safety locks off, revealing a tiny railed platform with a ladder to the roof above them and the one below. The sounds of the workshop abruptly faded as she closed the door and swung onto the ladder. "Nice view if you like cities" one of the workers had said to her in passing a while ago. Honestly the thing which struck her the most was how beautiful the sky looked with the abrupt buildings of the city framing it – a far cry from Treno where you were lucky to see the stars at night at all.

After carefully descending she wound her way between chimneys and under mysteriously placed wires to the skylight window. Pausing to listen for anyone underneath and then giving the lock a swift kick to unlatch the window before jumping down. The window was nowhere as easy to close as it was to open but so far nobody seemed to realize that the chairs kept getting left in the corridor. Secret entrance complete she swaggered down the staircase into what was formally known as the District Eye bar - but informally known as the best place for bounty hunters to gather information and take jobs, or the city spittoon depending on who you talked to.

The bar was reasonably quiet today – not surprising given that it was the first day in the working week. Apart from the occasional drunk sleeping off last night's over indulgence it could have almost passed for a dodgy restaurant of sorts. Dejectedly she stared at the job board – it was slim pickings at the moment it seemed. Most of the jobs lately were being passed through the military and private companies before they were deemed too hard or expensive and ended up here. In a way, it was kind of the scraps; there wasn't much glamour in that at all to her.

A faded royal seal caught her eye in the forest like mass of paper. That was one of the hand me down jobs then. On a casual second glance it didn't seem to be crossed out to show it was taken. "Holy fuck" she muttered scrabbling to rip a notice or two off to show the bounty "Oh yeah! Horseshoe luck or some shit!" The few remaining conscious patrons turned to see what the early morning bounty hunter was talking to herself about. After a quick glare they turned back to studying the wood grain of the bar. She skimmed over the letter – somebody needed to be sorted out (probably killed) and there were a few other minor conditions like returning stolen weapons or something, whatever. The only thing which gave her pause was the place – right up the Devils Back. She scowled remembering the last journey over that thing. Hauling herself and a picking bag for an entire day to get some rare herbs and flowers for Ruby.

Even though the trip was going to be a pain in the ass a local job for a good amount of Gil would give Ruby some space for a day or so and earn her enough to tide her over for a while – presuming everything went as planned. Ruby's words echoed in her head for a moment there, she really did have a point.

The other customers were well and truly back to being absorbed in their drinks by the time she headed out – she swung a foot back and kicked the door open with a bang, slamming it against the wall and making at least one drunk chokingly spit his drink everywhere. Lani stood for a moment looking up at the sky feeling the warm sun filtering down through the city to her - it felt like it was going to be a hot day.

It has taken, she estimated squinting at the position of the sun, about three quarters of an hour to cross the plains and a further two to make it about three quarters of the way up the devils back. The _Lindblum Traveler's Companion_ had indicated to her that monsters were rarer on the steeper slopes of _The Devils Back_ and that you could generally make it up them with minimum trouble. It was her opinion however that the people who'd written this chapter had gotten drunk and climbed a different hill by mistake or traveled by chocobo to avoid monsters - or both. The last she'd seen of her chocobo was it running full tilt into the distance with steam coming out of its ears. She frowned in thought as she used a tree's root for footholds, they probably weren't going to buy that it had been stolen, and even if they did what if it turned up a few days later covered with mud smelling like dead peppers? The deposit was probably forfeit at this point.

Not only that, but contrary to the alleged travellers' advice every monster on the mountain seemed to want to fight, either it was mating season again or they were trying to egg her into using blizzard on them. There had been one Firera but that had resulted in five minutes of franticly stomping out burning undergrowth lest it catch alight and she ended up trying to outrun it like an idiot.

Eventually she dragged herself over the last hillcrest and staggered into a dubiously small clearing at the top of the mountains. Looking back down at her path confirmed her suspicions that she'd actually deviated from the path up the mountain and followed some kind of monster trail about half an hour ago, which would explain both the monsters and why the track was so damn difficult. Panting with exertion she slid into a sitting position against a relatively safe looking rock. There was a cool breeze up here which seemed to be the nicest thing about this spot she considered casting an eye over the scraggly mountain top.

The job with the endangered flowers had taken place on the eastern facing section of the hills so the area was new to her, time for the Lindblum companion again them. As she thumbed through the maps her pace slowed at the Treno pages. Treno was linked to a lot of important memories for her. Bounty hunting, gambling, chases, money, card games, cheap food, pit fights, robbery, coin collecting and of course Ruby. Her gaze unfocused at the page as the memories of times good and bad trickled into the present again enveloping her. Abruptly she shook her head with a sharp exhale snapping back to the task at hand. The past was an interesting place but it was the present which mattered.

For instance, who on earth in their right mind would build on the next hill over? She squinted into the distance. What kind of hermit was this this H.D Samuel? She stood up again and stretched herself while she ran through a string of curses. It was going to be a long day alright.

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><p>At long last, chapter two!<p>

I get the feeling I'm going to be tinkering with this a bit as I go on to get it to where I feel it should be.

Thanks for reading, please take the time to drop me a line with your thoughts!

Shadow66


	3. Chapter 3

**A meandering path**

Chapter three.

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><p>Ruby gazed out the apartment window mulling in her thoughts. The day so far, had not quite gone as she had planned. In fact - it had kind of slid out of control the moment she slipped a bit and tried a heart to heart with Lani. That was generally a bad decision, tender talk never seemed to work on Lani as well as a swift kick in the rear did. Hmm, yes. That was kind of the key point to getting things across to her; it was straight shooting or nothing.<p>

Ruby had put some thought into that and come to the conclusion that Lani's upbringing and general choice of work had something to do with her taste for blunt talking and macho behaviour. As a side effect of that she wasn't a very good person to be brought along to experimental art theatre shows. Ruby drummed her fingers on the window sill remembering the last play she'd managed to get Lani along to. 'The unravelling of the soul', which was an experimental piece about a resident of Conde Petie who got hit by lighting and absorbed the memories of inanimate objects. What Ruby had thought could have been a thought provoking experience turned out to be an hour and a half of mostly improvised poetry and five minute intervals of acting. Lani's patience had worn out after a while and she spent the rest of the time complaining until she figured out that they could order alcohol by waiter during the play. It was a lot better from there on in until Lani broke a bottle over the lead actors head during a section where he was moving around the theatre as a zephyr for. Lani had gotten both a life ban from the building and praise from the director invigorating the play with audience interaction afterwards.

In spite of her roughness though - Lani really was a good person, she just had the tendency to believe her own bravado. Ruby had considered that it would be possible - if one were so inclined, to peel the onion of Lani's psyche and understand better than she currently did, what made Lani, Lani. But that kind of prodding would understandably provoke a bitter response. …Bitter? Was that the right phrase? Maybe she'd get sour at her, or was it foul. In bad taste perhaps? Maybe they'd both be crying unless they were underwater at the time? Her brow scrunched up as she firmly derailed herself for a few moments coffee halfway to her mouth.

Oh there'd be tears, she put the cup back down again. There, that was more like it. Overall things would be a lot easier if Lani would sort herself out, but there was no pushing that. Lani would have to work her way towards her own conclusions because she had the irritating tendency to reject advice offhand. She finally took a swig of her hovering coffee and promptly spat it all over the flowerbed in spluttering confusion "What the hey?" she choked "What the heck is this?" she stumbled to the kitchen wheezing from the taste and threw the rest of it down the sink before it clicked. Lani had mixed their containers up and put whatever this week's energy drink fad was in her container again – it looked like ass kicking was back on the menu when she showed her face again.

After cleaning up the mornings mess Ruby idled for few minutes looking out the kitchen window at the morning hustle of Lindblum alone with her thoughts. "Oh shoot" she exclaimed as she mentally ran over her plan for the day, dragging Lani along to check out some of the more obscure areas of the theater district was probably out of the question now that she'd run off for the moment. It was a shame too, because despite Lani's grouchy protests she had a feeling she secretly enjoyed at least some of the more violent plays.

She could go through to the Industrial district and seek out some strange import stores but that was a long walk and there was no promise of them even being open. There was always of course the theatre district, but by herself but that wouldn't be as fun. "Well it's better than sittin' on my ass all day" she said to the empty apartment, a quick visit it was, there wasn't too much harm in that. Mind made up she locked the apartment up and left, pausing for a moment to consider the Air train before heading the opposite direction. Today felt like more of a slow day, one in which she could take her time to enjoy the scenery from the newly opened sky bridge.

After a short walk The Sky Bridge gradually came into view, the ornate and modern marriage of Burmecian architecture and Lindblum steel was a triumph of both politics and engineering. Vendors had sprung up along the length of the bridge as soon as it was open to the public, hawking their wares from under its roofing to pedestrians. Ruby made her way to a coffee vendor seeking to replace the mornings ruined fix. The bridge was yet another interesting project from the enigmatic city ruler Cid. Ever since Cid had come to power he'd pumped tens of thousands of Gil into what felt like a random assortment of projects. The airship trade, new gates, city beautification, underground transport tunnels and various other projects scattered around the city. Either he was a genius at planning ahead or he just really liked building things on a large scale. The talk around the town was that the latter was true and that while he meant well but couldn't plan on anything less than a grandiose scale. Also that lot of his more bizarre policies and ideas were tempered by his wife Hilda who was the real power broker. That was just a rumour of course.

As Ruby walked along the Sky Bridge with a less contaminated coffee in her grip she took the time to admire the expansiveness of the city. The difference between where she used to be and where she was currently were immense. From living in a tiny country village nestled in the hills where they barely had radio dramas. To traveling the world, seeing new places trying new things, even meeting someone important to her along the way in. It had only been a few short years but she was had barely take the time to take stock of things. Reflecting on the past like this made her glad of what she had.

The difference between her hometown and Lindblum wasn't just positives though. Before the experience of inner city living, she hasn't experienced the abject desperation that was the urban environment. It made her uneasy sometimes how caged in she felt in the city with no nearby countryside to take a day out and relax in. That was how the city worked though, and she had caged herself by moving here. It was lucky that she'd met Lani when she did or the city would have eaten her alive. That said, even without Lani's street smarts she could easily pick out the workers towns from the ones intended to house travelers from the bridge.

Some parts of the city were less that friendly to outsiders and there was even word of organised gangs of thieves who worked stealing exotic and high risk valuables on order for thrills, although as much as she hated to deny thrilling scenarios that was only a rumor. Her tendency to enjoy and talk over all of the weirdest theories drove Lani up the wall. All Ruby had to do was enter the room with a newssheet to get a wary look out of Lani.

After about five or ten minutes of weaving through the crowds of Lindblum Ruby arrived at the theatre district When she had first come here she had expected to find it hard to fit in. But as time went on she realised that nobody fit in at the theater district. It seemed like every culture from Alexandria to the legendary island of Daguerreo had passed through and made its mark.

"Ruby, hey there Ruby!" a booming voice rung out over the crowds breaking her out of her memories, it was Horph – a local herb vendor. "Where's Lani?" he said slotting a package of herbs into a basket "If you see her can you pass on that Horph has some things for her?" Ruby shot him a deadpan look "Energy herbs? Why does Lani need-" she cut herself off. No, never mind it was probably better not knowing what dubious mixture she was planning on. "Well she's outta town for the moment Horph" Ruby replied having a cursory browse of the enormous range of strange herbs packed into small baskets in the front of his stall. "Ahhhh that is a shame. Lani needs more mana!" Horph boomed moving a tray between benches.

Horph was a strange character, he was a by trade a herb and general items vendor but he looked more like he spent his spare time pit fighting in Treno. Wasn't collecting herbs generally a peaceful exercise? "She's got the guts - but she lacks the magic!" he continued producing a brown paper package that looked like every other brown paper bag from the rack behind him "I have an easy and mostly harmless fix, imported herbs from the outer continent! Well known, cheap, fast and good!" he tossed the bag to her and she fumblingly caught it nearly dropping her cup.

"I don't have the money on me right now for this" Ruby said shaking the bag with suspicion and listening to the contents rustling. "Oh no, no. It is a free sample for a good customer" he said "Perhaps you would like something as well?" Ruby shook her head stuffing the bag into a pocket "Thanks Horph, but no thanks. I'll work with what I have" "Ah you are a tough customer!" he said with a laugh sorting the package back onto the shelf "You are too wise already for mana potions to do anything to you. Come see me if you change your mind some time" "Well, ya got that one right. I'll think about it" Ruby said with a wave as she melted back into the flow of the crowd.

Lately, it had been dawning on her while she did odd jobs around the district, that there was so much more to be gained in creating something that others enjoyed than taking and… she scratched her head absent mindedly while she looked through a stall of clever glass trinkets. … and just appreciating other peoples work. She'd always watched the plays when they came through her small hometown, and later on in Treno with Lani. But it had taken a while for the shoe to drop that she could take part in making the very plays she enjoyed. She'd eventually spotted an advertisement looking for new staff in Treno and gone from there.

"Hey Ruby, hold up for a moment" a familiar voice sounded over the crowd. "Pillow! Fancy meeting ya here!" she exclaimed back with a wide grin at the eccentric looking man in the nice but bland cream coloured suit who was making his way over from across the street. "Ruby please" he said with a hurt expression when he got to her "It's P'Lou. Pe, lough – I know you're doing this to be humorous but if could once in a while spare me your wit, please? That would be great" he twirled the walking cane he carried for decoration. Ordinarily a suit and cane would be a dashing look, but because he wore it every day he looked more like he was on the run from a wedding party and didn't have time to get changed.

"Darlin' I'll stop making fun of ya silly names when you stop changing them every other week" she shot back "What can I say" P'Lou replied with an easy shrug as if he was used to such jibes "I cannot remain on one sound for too long – I evolve and change organically like my art" Ruby rolled her eyes swirling the dregs of her coffee "You run up a bad reputation on your name and change it to get away" she said casually following up with a blisteringly obvious stage wink. A pained look flitting across his face told her she was right.

"You can have your theories" he waved dismissively. "My taste in names isn't what I'm here about though" Ruby eyed him warily "Tastes? Ya'll aren't here to sell me more of those Conda Petie sweets are you?" she slotted the now empty coffee cup into a bin chute. "Lani spent a whole day lying down after that last batch. She told me it felt like fiery spikes were being hammered into her throat an' next time she saw you she was gonna hire an airship and throw you off it because she didn't know a bridge high enough" she shook a finger at him accusingly "And the only reason I ain't mad at you over that one is because I told her not to buy things from shady people in the intermission and she did anyway"

"A most unfortunate incident involving a, and let me just emphasise this word, _rare_" P'Lou waved his hands expansively "Lapse in quality control – and I'd really rather not run into your trained go-" there was a small pause as he caught himself. "Associate, again. I believe the last time we met we parted again very shortly afterward when she took my air cab pass and kicked me down a set of stairs" He gave her an accusing look "Isn't she a sweetie when she gets angry?" Ruby said with a vaguely smug grin "So spit it out Plough, what is it that ya want?"

"It's not me, as such. But I heard through some friends that you impressed a few out of town people with your last role" he waggled his eyebrows "So if you turn up at a few plays and mingle with the right people. It might pay off". "Hold on a moment, I didn't get that part" she said bluntly "You mean to say people came in from out of town and saw me in a bit part at a play?" he paused for a moment, probably to seem like he was carefully considering his words. "Something like that, yes. It's a rumour that you may be being considered for a central role in a production for an out of town and very exclusive company" "Just tell me what company it is you mule" she said rolling her eyes. "Oh they're pretty obscure" he stroked his chin for a moment "You probably haven't heard of them unfortunately."

"Your information was as overwhelmin' as always" Ruby said blandly "Think nothing of it!" he said with a flourish apparently ignoring her deadpan delivery "Remember me favourably when you get to the top, or - need stage supplies at short notice even. Speaking of which have you seen Sybel around today?" he glanced around them as they passed a crossroad in the market "If you do, tell her I'm out of town at a ten star show in Treno, I'll see you around!" he said hurriedly before jogging off down a side alley already calling out to another recognised person.

"Looks like I know who ya'll pissed off huh" Ruby said thoughtfully scratching her head. He'd probably gone and fed Sybel a bad tip and gotten her in trouble with someone else judging by how eager he was to avoid her. His information was interesting, but dubious at best. You could rarely outright trust anything he came out with. She generally regarded him as being in a constant state of either trying to sweeten her up to sell her something or ask a favour that was financial dubious or illegal. That said what harm was there in having a look at the usual hangouts? She was already in the right area; Ruby meandered off down the street in the general direction of a popular café.

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><p>Thanks for reading, please take the time to read and review, feedback is greatly appreciated!<p>

With special thanks to © and FoxFury.

Shadow66


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